Clam Bouillon
1 dozen clams in shells 2 cups water Salt and red pepper 1 pint milk 1/2 tablespoon butter Scrub the clams and put them in a covered vessel over the fire in the water. Heat the milk separately. Boil the clams until the shells open; fill bouillon cups half full of broth; then pour in the milk, to which the butter and seasoning have been added.
A two-ingredient broth that lives or dies on the quality of the clam liquor. Everything here is about not overcooking and not serving grit.
- The hinge: pull them the moment they gapeHard-shell clams open in 5 to 8 minutes over medium heat and are done at that point. Left to boil while the last stragglers open, the meats tighten into rubber and the liquor turns muddy; lift each clam out as it gapes rather than waiting on the whole pot.
- Strain the brothEven scrubbed clams shed sand into the water. Let the broth settle a minute, then pour it through a fine sieve lined with a coffee filter or damp muslin, leaving the last spoonful behind in the pan.
- Purge before you scrubSit the clams in cold salted water for 20 to 30 minutes in the refrigerator, then scrub. Discard any that are cracked or that stay open when tapped, and any that refuse to open after cooking.
- Which clamsThe recipe says only 'clams in shells'; hard-shell clams such as littlenecks or cherrystones (or manila clams on the Pacific coast) suit this treatment. Expect to lose some of the two cups of water to evaporation and to the spoonful left behind when straining; larger quahogs give a stronger broth.
- Red pepperCayenne, not paprika and not crushed chilli flakes. A pinch is enough for a pint of milk; it is meant to sit behind the clam flavour rather than announce itself.
- Salt lastClam liquor is already saline and varies a great deal between batches. Season the milk lightly, combine, then taste before adding any more.
- Heat the milk, do not boil itThe instruction to warm the milk separately is deliberate. Milk brought to a boil, or held over direct heat once the salty clam broth is added, will film and can curdle. Bring it just to steaming and combine off the heat.
- YieldBroth plus a pint of milk fills five or six bouillon cups -- a first course, not a chowder. The clam meats are not used in the soup; save them for another dish.
Clam bouillon belongs to a family of thin, restorative clam broths that were popular in American cookery around the turn of the twentieth century, when clear soups were considered light and digestible, suitable for invalids as well as for the opening course of a dinner. The style here -- broth extended with hot milk and a knob of butter, served in a handled bouillon cup rather than a soup plate -- sits between a clear clam broth and a chowder. Bottled clam juice and canned clam bouillon were also sold commercially in this period.